Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural

Last updated

Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural
Civil parish
St. James - Greenstead Green - geograph.org.uk - 278734.jpg
Greenstead Green church
Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural
Interactive map of Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural
Coordinates: 51°56′04″N0°39′12″E / 51.934349°N 0.65333093°E / 51.934349; 0.65333093
CountryEngland
Primary council Braintree
County Essex
Region East of England
Halstead Rural1894
StatusParish
Main settlements Greenstead Green, Burton's Green, Plaistow Green and Whiteash Green
Area
 • Total
17.71 km2 (6.84 sq mi)
Population
 (2021 [1] )
 • Total
665
 • Density37.5/km2 (97.3/sq mi)
Website https://www.greensteadgreenpc.org.uk/

Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural is a civil parish in the Braintree district of Essex, England. The parish was created in 1894 from the rural parts of the old parish of Halstead, and covers areas to the north, west, and south of the town. The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Greenstead Green. Other settlements in the parish include the hamlets of Burton's Green, Plaistow Green, and Whiteash Green. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 665.

Contents

In addition to Halstead, the other neighbouring parishes are Coggeshall, Colne Engaine, Earls Colne, Gosfield, Great Maplestead, Little Maplestead, Pebmarsh, Sible Hedingham and Stisted. [2]

History

The area historically formed part of the ancient parish of Halstead. [3] In 1852, the parish was made a local board district, administered by an elected local board. [4] It was subsequently decided that the whole parish should not be included in the local board district, and so in 1866 the district was redefined to just cover the parts of the parish within a 1,000-yard (914 m) radius of the bridge over the River Colne in the centre of the town. [5]

Such local board districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894, which also directed that civil parishes could no longer straddle district boundaries. The old Halstead parish was therefore split into a Halstead Urban parish matching the urban district and a Halstead Rural parish covering the remainder of the old parish outside the urban district. [6] On 1 October 1934, 527 acres (213 hectares) was transferred to Halstead Urban. [7]

The parish of Halstead Rural was later renamed Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural to incorporate the name of its largest settlement. The change of name happened sometime in the 1960s or early 1970s; sources conflict on exactly when it occurred. [a]

The parish contains a number of buildings of historical note. [11] There are 35 listed buildings in the parish and two scheduled ancient monuments. [12] [13]

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural, at parish, district, and county level: Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural Parish Council, Braintree District Council, and Essex County Council. The parish council meets at Greenstead Green Village Hall. [14]

References

  1. ↑ UKBMD says the change of name was in 1974, [8] but the Ordnance Survey was showing the new name from 1968. [9] Vision of Britain says that the change of name was reported in the 1971 census as having occurred since the previous census in 1961, but note that further research had been unable to find a definitive date for the change. [10]
  1. ↑ "2021 Census Parish Profiles". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2025. (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)
  2. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  3. ↑ "Relationships and changes Halstead AP/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "No. 21387". The London Gazette . 3 December 1852. p. 3512.
  5. ↑ "Local Government Supplemental Act 1866" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. p. 127.
  6. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Essex. 1914. p. 262. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  7. ↑ "Relationships and changes Halstead Rural CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "Braintree Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Essex: Diagram showing administrative boundaries, 1968". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "Halstead Rural Parish". Vision of Britain . University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  11. ↑ "Halstead Rural". British History Online. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  12. ↑ "Search the List - Advanced Search". Historic England. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Listed buildings in Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural, Braintree, Essex". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Documents". Greenstead Green and Halstead Rural Parish Council. Retrieved 16 November 2025.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.